Former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, has denied any wrongdoing and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
In an interview with Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen on Tuesday, Mr Bissue emphasised that he has not gone into hiding and has nothing to hide.
Mr Bissue expressed shock at being declared wanted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“I’m shocked by it because I wasn’t in Accra and I knew they had invited me and there are other issues going on, and all that, but then, you know in the past, I’ve been to the BNI, to the CID, and even the Special Prosecutor’s Office when Martin Amidu was there, I went there. So, it wasn’t as if I was avoiding attending that meeting,” he said.
Regarding his inability to honour the OSP’s invitation, Mr Bissue explained that it was simply a matter of not being immediately present in Accra.
He expressed surprise and concern about being declared wanted, as it creates the perception that he is a criminal or a fugitive.
He stated, “What happened is that I was out of Accra, so my lawyers have written to them that I will come and then we heard of the arrest warrant. Basically, I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m in Ghana and I’ll go to the Special Prosecutor’s office at some point when I return to Accra, but to declare me Wanted, I don’t know why, as if I’m a fugitive… but the whole thing is making it look like I’m a criminal.”
Mr Bissue asserted that he is not evading the authorities and reiterated his readiness to provide all necessary information to assist the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
He assured them that he would definitely appear at their offices to cooperate with their investigation.
“Every information I have, I’ll volunteer in the interest of the country, so I haven’t run away anywhere. I’m within the country, and even when I was out of the jurisdiction last year, I have so many visas, I could have stayed out of the country if I had anything to hide. I am in the jurisdiction, and I’ll attend the Special Prosecution’s office at some point to answer their questions,” he noted.
Mr Bissue’s declaration comes in response to his failure to respond to an invitation from the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which sought his appearance to answer questions related to an ongoing investigation into suspected corruption within the dissolved IMCIM.
